The Nigeria Customs Service has handed over 399 seized firearms to the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (NCCSALW) for proper custody, documentation and accountability.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Dr Bashir Adeniyi, said the weapons were intercepted during the inspection of a consignment at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos. He said the seizure was aided by the service’s trade modernisation system and improved risk-management tools.
Adeniyi disclosed that the consignment also contained 89 firearm frames, 80 charging handles, 579 trigger groups and 25 locking lugs. Two suspects linked to the shipment were arrested and remanded by a Federal High Court in Lagos.
NCCSALW Director-General, Mr Babatunde Kokumo, commended Customs for the seizure and said the centre would catalogue, profile and appropriately dispose of the weapons in line with relevant laws. He disclosed that more than 21,000 weapons had been retrieved and about 19,000 destroyed since the centre was established.
The officials stressed the need for stronger collaboration, intelligence sharing and strict accountability among security agencies to curb the illicit movement and proliferation of small arms and light weapons in Nigeria.
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